2018 August 27

Taft Management Inc. v. Gentile,  2018 CanLII 82880

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Small Claims Court) rejected defence submissions that this defamation lawsuit brought by a condominium property manager and its president against a condo unit holder should be dismissed as a SLAPP pursuant to s. 137.1 of the Ontario Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C43.  The claims concerned emails sent by the defendant to his fellow members of the condominium’s Board of Directors. The Court held that the emails concerned “ordinary and routine matters in condominiums – not matters of public interest but rather matters of private interest which would normally be dealt with by the board of directors of a condominium corporate and its property manager.”  Nothing about the emails or their subject matter rose to the level of the “public interest” within the meaning of the anti-SLAPP statute.